Wonderful afternoon of friends, margaritas and ranch exploration!

We had a wonderful afternoon today. Daalia, Will & Laith, Terri, Adam & Owen, and Victoria & Gwendolyn (we missed you Bill!) came over to hang out and have the kids have a little playdate.



While the kids played and ran around, we got to (semi) relax with blood orange margaritas (from Tom's little prize tree near the deck) and some snacks. Oh, and as not to be left out... the kids had apple juice. This is quite a treat for Cyanne as she never gets juice otherwise.



Gwendolyn was so observant checking out the scene:







The kids had a great time running around, playing with/practicing how to blow bubbles (it's a lot harder than it looks =))...







Fun with stairs & rocks:





Terri and Daalia are both expecting so Adam and Will got a brief refresher in newborns, thanks to Maritt. =)



Owen tried to give Cyanne kisses...



They picked oranges and avocados.







Ventured down the road to check out the chickens...





And had a few falls, spills, and tumbles! It's rough out at the ranch!
Thanks for coming over guys... we had a great time!
(and thanks to Terri for some of these great photos =)).

Cyanne & AnnaTake On Goleta Beach

Ah, we love it when the Gustafson's come to visit!

Cyanne has a blast seeing Anna. She still talks about Anna's 2nd birthday party at the Herbert's house just before Christmas. Not only did she get to see Anna but there was lots of Elmo involved... and cake! Invariably, when Cyanne sings "Happy Birthday," it's often Anna's birthday.

We usually get to see them for breakfast and a little time to play. Anna apparently associates Cyanne with pancakes.

But this time, we met at Goleta Beach so the girls could play on the playground, check-out the beach and ocean and then head over to dinner at the Beachside.

I have no cute photos of them playing... let's just say it's enough to try and wrangle a toddler while avoiding "big kids" who almost take out your 2 year old... But take my word for it - they had a good time going down the slide, swinging on the swings, and jumping all around.

Here are some shots from dinner.



Yummy spaghetti! (how cute is she?!?)


It's a challenge to get them both smiling at the same time. Anna is much less camera-averse than Cyanne. But, we did get it eventually!





I can't wait to show them these photos when they are 18... =)

Come back soon, Anna!! We love seeing you (*and of course, your fantastic Mommy & Daddy too) =)

Middlebury Class of ... 2031?

Here are a few shots of Maritt decked out here Middlebury gear.
Here we come class of 2031...





And this photo cracks me up every time:

Lots of Smiles & Ladybugs

A few random photos of Cyanne, Maritt & Tom.
Maritt... smiling, as usual =)







And Tom and Cyanne releasing some of the ladybugs he got to help rid his roses of other less desirable insects!
Cyanne was very intrigued by all of the ladybugs on Daddy's hands - crawling all over...

Happy 6th Anniversary!

On March 20th, we celebrated 6 wonderful years together!

We spent a very nice day with Cyanne and Maritt and then had a delicious dinner at the newly reopened Wine Cask downtown.

A few photos from that fantastic day, 6 years ago...:









And oh, how our lives have changed in such wonderful, amazing ways since then...
Most of all - the two new little additions we have added to our family.
We love our little family of four.

In the buff...

One afternoon, Maritt and I were hanging out inbetween diaper changes practicing some tummy time. She's rolling from her stomach to her back pretty frequently - and trying hard to go from her back to her tummy. She gets about half-way over and stops.

Her is our cute little girl...
Such a cute little body =)








Who me?
What? I'm practicing my swimming strokes.

Maritt - Sleeps through the night!

Last night.... wait for it.... wait for it...

Maritt slept through the night!!
Hooray!!! Yippee!!! Joy of joys...!!!

She slept from about 10:30 PM until 7 AM.

She's 4 months and 2 weeks old.

I woke up at 6 AM due to the painful, rock-hard engorged milk factories on my chest but was elated when I looked at the clock and realized that she hadn't woken up during the night.
Fantastic!
I'll take engorged breasts any day if it means that Maritt sleeps through the night.

This was the 5th night of sleep training.

It was still difficult to put her down last night as it has been since we started sleep training. We started the process around 8:30 PM or so. We'd given her a bath with Cyanne, read them books together, fed her, wrapped her up, and tried to put her to sleep but she wasn't giving in. She cried quite a bit - we would go in at various increments. We waited longer periods in the beginning as per Ferber's book (i.e. 10 min., 12 min., 15 min.) but she kept crying harder and harder. I went up and tried to burp her again which helped - and then we re-wrapped her.
Opened the window as all of the crying was really making her hot...
And then, when she cried, I'd go in more frequently and reassure her - every 3-5 minutes. I think this helped because she eventually fell asleep around 10 PM.

And stayed asleep!!!

Oh, my fingers are crossed she learns this is the way to go and does it again tonight.
I can hope!
And, as Tom said, now we know she can do it!!

Way to go Maritt - Mommy and Daddy are so, so thankful. And appreciative.
Good girl!

Sleep Training - Update

So... we've been sleep training for several days now.
Maritt, unlike her sister Cyanne, has not succumbed to the wonderful thing that is sleep so easily.

With Cyanne, we never went past 3 nights of sleep training. She'd figured it out by that point. Granted, she was 6 months old and Maritt is only 4 1/2. Also, Cyanne never went past the 2nd 10 minute timed session...

Maritt, on the other hand... Well, let's just say that she doesn't seem to want to give in as easily. Does this portend a stubborn streak? A night-owl? Only time will tell... But for now, we're the bosses and we say it's time to sleep!

But, each night has been rather difficult. Rather than finally giving in to it after several timed periods, she continues to cry. At points, she quiets down and Tom and I look at each other and say "maybe... is she actually asleep? please...?" and then she lets out another wail. And we sigh and continue to stare at the monitor.

Maritt is now totally hoarse and is about to fully lose her little voice. =(
She cries and cries, we go in and reassure her after the set periods, she cries more... we go back in.

Last night I just couldn't take it anymore and went in, picked her up, soothed her, bounced her, and nursed her until she fell asleep. I know, I know. This is just what he says not to do but really, she sounded so pathetic with her little, hoarse, sad-pitched cries. I caved.
But, we and she will eventually figure it out.

Naps on the other hand, interestingly or oddly enough, haven't been difficult. We put her down "drowsy but awake" and she falls asleep... Nighttime - you are a different beast altogether.

We will figure this out.
We will. All 3 of us.

Meanwhile, Cyanne, the super sleeper, is sound asleep in her crib with puppy, blanket, and big bird. We love the fact you're such an awesome sleeper Cyanne. It brings us endless joy... you have no idea.

Sleep Training

Last night, we started sleep training Maritt.
We are using the Ferber method as we did with Cyanne.

Oh, the poor girl but we keep telling ourselves it's for the best. She needs to learn how to go to sleep on her own. Up until this point, we have been either rocking her to sleep, bouncing on the ball for hours, or nursing her until she is asleep. We then move her to her co-sleeper where sometimes she wakes up and we start over again or sometimes, she stays asleep until she wakes up to eat.

We are dealing with two issues this time (whereas with Cyanne, it was just helping her learn how to fall asleep on her own). With Maritt, we have to 1) teach her how to fall asleep on her own and 2) wean her off of her nighttime feedings. She needs to learn that she eats during the DAY... not at night.
So, the sleep training is really a two-fold endeavor.

She actually did pretty well last night.
She cried for the first several timed segments. 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, and then - she fell asleep 2 minutes into the 2nd 10 minute segment.

Tom and I were lying on the guest bed upstairs (we've moved into the guest room to have Maritt sleep alone in our room. Apparently, she can smell the milk when I'm around and thus, wakes up hungry and ready for a snack...) and looked at each other and were very glad that she'd finally fallen asleep.

On to day 2 tomorrow...

Four Months Old!

Well, 4 months and a week...
We didn't quite get Ms. Maritt on March 11th... but here she is:





Who-hoo, they've got me dressed as a boy today! :)
Good thing I like elephants!

Bathtime!

Maritt's aunt Mart sent us a very neat baby gift: a bath tub! We have found it to be quite useful and a fun way to give Maritt a bath when we don't want to 1) put her in the bath with Cyanne or 2) want to give her a bath when only one of us is around.





For some reason, almost every bath Maritt has taken has been with Cyanne which requires either Tom or me holding her while the other one gives her a good rub-a-dub. So... this tub enables us to do it when there's only one of us here which is handy.
That and it gives her her a reassuring feeling of being in a smaller, warm space.



She really seems to like it!





Thanks Aunt Mart!

A mother's viewpoint

There are moments when I am overcome by how precious Maritt is. Her adorable face, beautiful hands, dark eyelashes, downy hair, small dimple, and rosy cheeks and lips. Her rhythmic, even, quiet breathing. Her peaceful face while she is sleeping.

Tom and I have spent hours upon hours holding Maritt in our arms. Those moments are some of the most precious.
Here is my perspective.

We love you very much Maritt.